From independent girls to co-ed state at 6th Form - thoughts?

[bytheseasidebythesea]

Looking at 6th form options for our DD. Currently at an independent girls school and wants to go co-ed.
Budgets are tight and we are looking at possible state options including the local academy and a couple of sixth form colleges.
She wants to study maths and art A level, other options as yet undecided.
Anyone have experience of moving out of indy into a state and did the transition go OK?
I'm sure there are lots in a similar position to us right now and I'd love to hear about how it's gone.

Yes my daughter has just done it and is really enjoying it! Selective girls school to boys grammar (mixed sixth form). Being a grammar I wasn’t sure if it Would be different enough (she wanted a change) but it is! She says it’s much more fun and relaxed having boys around and it’s also much more normal, less of a bubble.

She hears that all her old friends are really stressed already, yet she’s not so she’s really glad she made the move. She’s also doing voluntary sport for the first time In years!

@bringbackfonzi

It's lucky the state system is there when you need it...

Sadly the state system wasn't there when we needed it, which is why our DD ended up in an independent school in the first place.

Some kids are not lucky enough to live in an area where they get into a 'good' or 'outstanding' state school automatically. Especially when there are people cheating the state system (renting houses, using grandparents/work addresses) to get their kids into a school.

If the state system was fair then we would not have spent over £100,000 on school fees, whilst also forfeiting family holidays / new cars and the other trappings that many of the families at the local state school are able to afford.

So please do not say that our DD is some precious little Hermione @TheEndisCummings as you have no clue about our family circumstances and why our DD ended up in a private school in the first place!

I also have personal experience of this, I went from an assisted place at a top indy to a local 6th form college (not attached to a school). I was kicking back a bit and wanted more freedom, but in that respect it was better prep from the type of studying you do at uni, there was a lot less hand-holding which stood me in good stead later. I enjoyed the co-ed aspect too and found it less intense than the all-girls school was, which suited me. Got three A's at the end of it too.

@bytheseasidebythesea I sent my child to the local school - if everyone does that then the system of ranking becomes meaningless (which it is really). I support that school by sending my child who is pretty academic and helps his classmates- So don't admonish me. YOU are the one ruining the possibility of a good education for everyone in socially mixed schools, by insisting some parts of the system are just too horrid for your precious child. That is what is not fair.

@TheEndisCummings life just isn’t that straightforward. Schools and areas can be very different. Children don’t all respond in the same way either.

My children went to a state primary school in a very poor area (bottom 10% of wards nationally) and more than 2/3 of the children were on free school meals. They stood out as different- it was unavoidable. We had a bigger house than everyone else and my kids didn’t have local accents.

Dd is very adaptable and got on fine although she says now that she always felt different and weird. Ds struggled and was badly bullied for being different. In the end we had to pull him out. We home educated him instead of private school but the principle is the same. It wasn’t that we felt we were too good for the school - but you have to draw the line when your child is so unhappy.

Dd ended up going to an independent secondary because we needed to move areas for other reasons but we struggled to sell our house because of its location. We were still in the old area when we applied for secondaries so we weren’t in catchment to apply for schools in the new area and they were all full when we got there (even the unpopular ones!). There’s lots of reasons why people use independent schools. There’s no need to be so rude and make assumptions about people’s motives!

@crazycrofter Your situation sounds very similar to ours. Like you say, children end up either homeschooled or in independent schools for all sorts of reasons.
Bullies can be anywhere...some of them even hang out on Mumsnet, as I have just found out 😂

@theendiscummings Sounds like you have a chip on your shoulder. You might want to stop there!

My DC Private school doesn’t have a 6th form so 90% of them go into State for A levels. There are 2 6th form colleges close by, a Grammar, a Private school and a few State comps. Most seem to do fine

theendiscummings if you can afford Private but send your DC to the local Comp which is in Special measures despite the fact that several teachers who work there have advised you not to just so you can smash the system then fine. I decided not to

@Hopppinggreen - fine, just don't congratulate yourself for your anti-social behaviour.

That made me laugh, thank you